Wellingtonians: submissions on Ngauranga to Airport study

I blogged briefly about this some time ago, but since a couple of Wellington based blogs have made some comments, such as Eye of the Fish (which tends to be a little anti-road building) and Poneke, I thought I'd make some comments from a free market, economic rationalist perspective.

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The Ngauranga to Airport study is a transport corridor study lead by Transit New Zealand including the Greater Wellington Regional Council and Wellington City Council, and it is about planning how the corridor/s from the junctions of State Highways 1 and 2 through to Wellington airport should be developed over the next 10 to 15 years. Submissions close at 5pm NZDST on 22 February.

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My view is somewhat radical. I believe the road corridor is grossly inadequate and needs upgrading, with a second Terrace Tunnel, second Mt Victoria Tunnel and four lanes completed to Kilbirnie. I also believe Wellington needs a proper bypass between Mt Victoria and the Terrace Tunnel - covered trench, and that all of this can be paid for by peak time tolls for traffic entering the CBD. These tolls would reduce congestion significantly, encourage use of public transport, walking and cycling, and so greatly improve the flow of trucks, buses, taxis and cars - because the streets would no longer be run on the socialist principle of queuing, but rather the free market principle of price. With a large underground bypass linking the airport to the western and northern suburbs, and Porirua and the Hutt Valley, around a third of the traffic in Te Aro would be gone, as would the traffic along the waterfront. Friends of the Green Party view of less traffic might contemplate that, and visit Oslo to see what good toll funded bypass roads can do to the ambience of a city.

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Public transport itself doesn't need special treatment. Light rail is popular, not least because some Wellingtonians, well travelled as they are, have seen trams in Melbourne, continental Europe and the like and "think they are cool", forgetting the enormous cost of triplicating infrastructure in putting them back in. Light rail needs tracks and overhead wires, that can't be used by other modes, but also simply can't serve the variety of locations of buses. Most importantly, the variety of origins and destinations for people bypassing downtown Wellington are such that high density public transport can't meet their needs. The efficient and profitable Flyer bus between the airport and the Hutt is a reasonable compromise that doesn't need others to pay for it.

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In the meantime before tolling is introduced, bus lanes (also for trucks and taxis mind you) can be used to better allocate road space, and bus companies should be allowed to innovate more.

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The study should allow for a innovative approach to transport along this critical corridor. It is quite a good report so far, with some decent tradeoffs to be made.

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Wellington is vibrant, but is cauterised by a half finished motorway - still - depositing heavy volumes of traffic through its back door and along the waterfront. It's time to finish it and fund that and run the capital's roads on market principles - and see the difference. Oslo has.

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UPDATE: A friend notes "The Chamber of Commerce had cute young blonde things in high-vis gear standing at traffic lights around the Basin last night handing out pro-forma submissions to the WRC on the Ngauranga to Airport study that's going on at the moment" Indeed it did. The Chamber of Commerce in fact takes a sensible approach on this.

George Galloway blames Cuban human rights abuses on the US

George Galloway, Marxist mate of dictators has just engaged on a vituperative tyrade against Channel 4 News blaming it for bias and propaganda. He claims that Cuba's lack of democracy, and its abuses of human rights are because of the US embargo. That's right it's "just like when Hitler was going to invade Britain".

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How evil! Galloway was virtually spitting, enjoying his freedom to criticise independent media, enjoying his right of free speech, saying that Cuba would have all these freedoms "if only the US didn't impose an embargo". Oh really George? So the Soviet Union would have to "if only the US disarmed"? So what is the excuse for China? What is the excuse for North Korea? Why do the majority of states in the world have some degree of political freedom and liberal democracy?

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Galloway is a tired old communist, who likes to shake hands with those with blood on their hands. Hopefully at the next election this wannabe dictator will get the boot from the voters of his east London electorate, or maybe he should go live in Cuba and enjoy the wonders of socialism, especially since he happily denies Cubans the right to decide if they like it, since they can neither vote, protest or leave Cuba!

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Galloway you arrogant prick, how dare you claim that the Cuban regime has the right to imprison its own citizens for protesting against it, or for wanting to leave - how fucking special you think you are!

How green is your bus?

I've posted before about the Green Party obsession with public transport being a "faith based initiative" that when you look a little closer, is not that rooted in reality.

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Now according to the NZ Herald, Paul Minett of Trip Convergence Ltd, a company promoting carpooling, claims that three people travelling in a car can have a lower carbon footprint than if they travelled by bus, adding fuel to the call for the new expensive busway to be available to more vehicles. Now some of his claims involve double counting (e.g. the bus returning empty twice shouldn't be attributed to a single bus trip), but he is quite right that the claims about the low emissions of public transport over private motoring aren't as clear cut as the simple Jeanette Fitzsimons view of "bus good, car baaad".

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The government's own Surface Transport Costs and Charges study indicated that, per person, the environmental costs of buses were double that of cars in the Auckland peak period (Table 3.4A of main report). Per vehicle a bus produces 18 times the environmental impact per kilometre than a car, which tells you how many people the bus has to carry on average to be even with a car. Think about how often you see buses running with less than that number. More importantly, traffic congestion increases the environmental impact of a bus or car in the peak period in Auckland by over 200%, so that is the real enemy costing time and fuel. Yes buses are getting cleaner and greener, but then so are cars.

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So how about opening up the Northern Busway to other vehicles, with an appropriately high toll to keep it at a free flow? The other vehicles using it would save time and fuel, and there would be a few less on the parallel motorway. Oh and yes I know Transit's argument about not doing that until the Victoria Park widening project is completed - which in itself is a good reason to seriously consider tolls on the Harbour bridge and its immediate approaches to fund it.

Wellington International Airport's rock?

OK, so what the hell is THIS all about? It's creative yes but attractive? It's the design for the expansion of Wellington airport's international terminal wing (note the ambitiously hopeful thought that Singapore Airlines might decide to service Wellington, hmmm).

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On the outside it looks out of place, bizarre even, on the inside it looks like you're sitting in a cave. Yes I know there is a desire to make an impact, and most airport terminals are "the same", but hold on a second. The main impact I get is "it's not like an airport, but I could get lost inside this".

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At one point the worst thing about Wellington airport was the old Air NZ domestic terminal, which is now long gone with the new terminal which is reasonably functional and quite pleasant to use. There is a need to expand some capacity at the international wing, mainly because typically 3 or 4 flights arrive and depart within three slots of an early AM peak, mid afternoon and late evening. However, I don't know if this design is quite right. Nevertheless it will make the airport environment less clinical and if it provide enough space for three times the expected passengers it WILL be comfortable. You see the best airports are the ones that don't seem packed, but can take you, with room for your bags, and a friend to spread out, and let you know when you need to know, when to board. It's nice to have that without lounge access! I'm unsure if this design makes it easy to use, imagine running to a flight through this, you don't have a clear sight to a gate and where to go, and what to avoid. Interesting to see what views others have, especially Not PC.

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Eye of the Fish has more comments and TV3 has a fly through video of the terminal.

Hope for Cuba?

Following Castro's surprisingly short statement of resignation, President Bush and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have both called for Cuba to transition towards liberal democracy. Bush said:

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"Eventually this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections, and I mean free and I mean fair, not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as being true democracy,"

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I would hope those of the liberal left might actually agree with Bush, for once. Just on that point, go on, show you DO actually believe in liberal democracy. After all according to Cuba's official mouthpiece "45 years have passed and the overwhelming majority of Cubans remain unyielding in their support of the Revolution and the undisputed and reinvigorated leadership of Fidel Castro” so why fear elections and free speech?

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The so called "genocidal war" of the economic embargo might end then, although I would have thought the embargo, as an anti-globalisation measure, should be welcomed by socialists. Why would they want to trade with the great capitalist enemy?

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Meanwhile, the truth of Cuban socialism is, like that of almost all dictatorships, opulence for the rulers. Castro's life of luxury is reported in the Daily Telegraph, as evidence from videotapes smuggled out by an ex.girlfriend of one of Castro's sons shows:

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"The series, titled The Secret life of Fidel Castro, depicts his main residential compound, Punto Cero, or Point Zero, in western Havana. Monday's episode showed Mr Castro dressed casually before a banquet, inspecting the elaborate dinnerware on the dinner table, his grandchildren playing with relatives and Antonio zooming along the patio on an electric scooter. It pictures the spacious compound and carefully landscaped garden and reveals that many of the family are wearing designer clothes. The house is decorated with wooden chests and Cuban handicrafts. A large-screen television monitors foreign news channels."

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Of course it is neither here nor there for Castro's sycophants that he has what he denies fellow Cubans - access to free media.

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So who are his sycophants?

Top of my list is London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, great friend of Cuban authoritarian one party rule. Ken Livingstone loves Castro.

However add to that list George Galloway (mate of dictators far and wide), Naomi Campbell (brainless without beauty), Steven Spielberg (though he isn't keen on Castro's mates in Beijing), Oliver Stone (why doesn't he move there?) and Diego Maradona (he has a tattoo of the thug).

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The Independent has an excellent although lengthy entry outlining many bits of information about Cuba.

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So what might Cubans hope for?

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Access to the internet, since it has been illegal since 2004 for private citizens to access it.

Mobile phones or computers, since it is illegal to own those without government permission (which is not common).

Red Cross access to prisons, which Cuba denies.

The end to imprisonment for "likelihood of committing a crime".

The end to imprisonment of journalists for criticising the regime.

Freedom of movement (the right to leave Cuba).

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Let's hope 2008 is the year all of the above is granted to Cubans.